Handshake, a LinkedIn for university students and diversity, raises $40M

LinkedIn has created and — with 562 million users — leads the market in social platforms for people who want to network with others in their professions, as well as look for jobs. Now a startup that hopes to take it on in a specific niche — university students and recent grads, with a focus on diversity and inclusion — has raised a substantial round to grow. Handshake, a platform for both students looking to take their early career steps and employers that want to reach them, has raised $40 million in a Series C round of funding, after hitting 14 million users in the U.S. across 700 universities, and 300,000 employers targeting them.

The company is now valued at $275 million post-money, according to figures from PitchBook, a big leap on its valuation at the Series B stage two years ago, when it was valued at $108 million. A source very close to the company says $275 million was just a little high, but close. 🤷

The funding is notable not just for that valuation hike — and the implication that many think it could give Microsoft-owned LinkedIn a run for its money among 20-somethings — but for who is doing the backing.

The round was led by EQT Ventures, the investment arm of European holding company and PE firm EQT, with participation also from several investment organizations that have put a focus on backing interesting startups in the education sphere, including the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Omidyar Network and Reach Capital, as well as True Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Spark Capital and KPCB Edge. Several of these are repeat investors, and the total raised by Handshake — not to be confused with the B2B e-commerce platform of the same name — is now $74 million.

To date, Handshake has only been active in the U.S. Originally named Stryder, the company was founded in 2014 by three graduates of Michigan Tech University University of Michigan — Garrett Lord (currently the CEO), Scott Ringwelski (CTO) and Ben Christensen (a board member). The plan is to use the new funding to expand into more markets like Europe, using EQT’s network of businesses in the region to help it along.

LinkedIn has been making a lot of efforts over the years to court younger users and bring them into the LinkedIn fold earlier.

In 2013, the company lowered its minimum age for users to 13 and launched dedicated pages for universities. In 2014, LinkedIn started to add more tools for younger users to connect with universities and their university-related networks on the platform. And through various e-learning efforts, LinkedIn has been trying to create a bridge between the kind of learning you might do at university and what you might do after you leave to further your career.

The behemoth also started to take baby steps into providing more insights into diversity for those doing hiring, by letting recruiters examine search results by gender; and by providing bigger insights into the wider pool of people on LinkedIn.

Part of the reason for the baby steps, I’m guessing, is that LinkedIn simply lacks the data from its users to do more faster, and so that leaves a lot of room for a rival to step in.

In that vein, it seems Handshake is trying to position itself as a platform that is considering and thinking about how to address diversity from the ground up, as a native part of its platform while it is still small and growing.

How Complete Newbies Turn A $5 Budget Into THOUSANDS Per Month Working Just 30 Minutes Per Day! TIME TESTED System That Works For ANYONE!

One of the ways that Handshake gets more details about its members is through its partnerships with universities, which helps to populate information about their profiles, rather than relying on a person filling out the details manually. (To register for an account, you use your university address, similar to how Facebook worked when it first launched.)

Handshake also has relationships with more than 100 minority-serving institutions, which include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Hispanic Serving Institutions in the U.S., to bring them and their students more closely into that fold.

On the side of employers, it includes more search features for recruiters to search using more specific parameters in the effort to make more diverse hiring choices. “Candidates who might not have the right connections or privileged background can get in front of Fortune 500 companies,” the company notes.

“Our Handshake community is tackling the so-called ‘pipeline problem’ head on. Skilled students are on every campus in every corner of the country and we’re proud to help employers discover, recruit and hire up-and-coming talent from all backgrounds,” said Lord in a statement. “Students around the world experience the same inequality in the recruiting process, so we’re excited to partner with Alastair Mitchell” — the EQT partner leading the investment — “and EQT Ventures to expand our impact beyond the United States.”

That’s not to say that inclusion and diversity are the only issues that Handshake is tackling.

The company cites a 2018 Strada-Burning Glass Study that says more than 43 percent of graduates are underemployed — either not earning their full potential, or doing a job that doesn’t utilize their skills — in their first job out of college. “Of those who graduate underemployed, 50% remain underemployed 10 years after graduation.” There is, in other words, a big employment gap specifically with recent grads, and while many will land plum positions, many others flail, and the idea is that Handshake will help specifically to address that by improving how well people are matched to positions that are open.

This is, in fact, an interesting counterpoint to the fact that we also have a lot of ageism in certain fields, where older people are often overlooked — perhaps another niche market that is ripe for tackling?

Handshake today makes money much in the same way that LinkedIn does: it offers paid usage tiers for its users to unlock more features. In the startup’s case, a Premium employer tier called the Talent Engagement Suite was recently launched to let organizations search by diversity parameters and other more specific criteria. That appears to be the path that Handshake plans to follow going ahead, doubling its team to 200 with more people in product and engineering roles to build out more analytics and search and recommendations algorithms.

Recommended For You

It’s also making some key hires for the next age. Christine Y. Cruzvergara, ex-associate provost and executive director for Career Education at Wellesley College, is joining as VP of Higher Education and Student Success, to work with institutions precisely on more inclusive initiatives and products.

“CZI is thrilled to support Handshake as it connects talented students to career opportunities that enable them to reach their full potential,” said Vivian Wu, managing partner of Ventures at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, in a statement. “Handshake’s approach – expanding access, building student community and support, and showcasing accomplishments beyond college and degree – produces real results, especially for young people from communities that haven’t had access to high quality job and life opportunities.”

Updated to correct the name of the university that the three founders attended.

Recommended Products

Get 100+ Proven-to-Convert, Professionally Written Email Templates, Specifically Designed To Generate MAXIMUM Passive Ecom Sales. You will get promo emails, email swipes for every situation (new customer followup, discount, important holidays, etc). You w

Local Vid Pro FEWant A KILLER Offer To Promote This NOVEMBER? INSANE Software That Creates Videos, Ranks Them For MULTIPLE Keywords At Once, Finds Clients and SELLS TO THEM ON AUTOPILOT. (+PROOF!)Combine This MAGNETIC And SUPER Converting Sales Copy And Funnel, Sprinkle

Viral Reach Elite MonthlyViral Reach is a Facebook marketing 100% automation tool. Once you type in the keyword Viral Reach will get you content from high-authority and non-spammy sources for maximum organic reach and post it on its own.Get the full variety of content including t

==========

Recommended Products

Mobiflux Developer Edition ProGet the developer rights to WP Mobiflux and legally implement WP Mobiflux on your client’s side. Just tell them that what all they can do with WP Mobiflux and how they can get sales and leads.Then, just install it on their site and charge them a setup

TigerPress Volume 9 Theme ClubGet all Tigerpress themes added each month, including the HTML versions and white label functionality, members also receive FREE updates and support, and also receive access to SaaS bonuses added monthly for one low price.

LiteApp Studio - Reseller [200 Licenses]Get rights to 200 Liteapp Studio Licenses to resell to your customers and keep 100% of the money! At only $147, each license costs you only $0.73 = LESS THAN $1 PER LICENSE!

Trending Traffic - MonthlyHarness the power of trending viral content and skyrocket your visitors and social engagement. This system scans the most popular sites to constantly find the best content to share to SUCK in that traffic on autopilot.

TigerPress Previous Volumes Second Chance 7Premium one of a kind wordpress themes that do all the onpage seo for you including image seo, with TigerPress themes you can also generate an unlimited amount of geo targeted landing pages in any language.

LaunchShark Volume 2 Downsell5 Quick Start Marketing Page Templates and training so you can deploy your first high converting squeeze page (perfect for building your first list if you don’t have one yet)...

Long Tail Pro Monthly Starter PlanLong Tail Pro is the fastest, most effective way to find keywords that will help your website rank in search engines.The Long Tail Pro Starter plan includes access to Long Tail Pro's entire suite of keyword research tools, including keyword lookups, re

==========

Recommended Products

VidViral OnetimeVidViral is a cloud based suite that turns any Video(YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, or self upload) into a Attention Grabbing Masterpiece by adding amazing Header and Footer Elements within 3 Simple Steps.

TigerPress Previous Volumes Second Chance 1Premium one of a kind wordpress themes that do all the onpage seo for you including image seo, with TigerPress themes you can also generate an unlimited amount of geo targeted landing pages in any language.

SociDeck EliteSociDeck is a feature-packed social media management software that converts social conversations into conversions by allowing users to manage their 3 biggest social media accounts- Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at one place.

VidViral MonthlyVidViral is a cloud based suite that turns any Video(YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, or self upload) into a Attention Grabbing Masterpiece by adding a additional layer of header and footer to the video which directly talks with the viewer.

Viral Reach Agency 125 YearlyOnce you get the Viral Reach Agency version you can sell Viral Reach access to others and charge yours for it.This is an entire business wrapped and readied for you. Make use of this opportunity and create an all new passive income stream for yourself.

VidRankXpress ProA Revolutionary 1-Click Software Turns ANY Video into Endless Traffic Machine That Gets Page 1 Ranking on YouTube and Google and Drives Tons of Traffic from TOP Social Giants on 100% Autopilot.

Mobiflux Agency EliteWith WP Mobiflux you can set up a profitable business even before you run it on your site or campaign.WP Mobiflux is a powerful traffic multiplication system, that will provide your clients with the seed mobile traffic easily. So, just sell WP Mobiflux

The Stavrou MethodThe Stavrou Method is a comprehensive health/wellness package that has contributions from five experts with over 120 years experience.. It includes
? A Webinar!
? 11 eBooks on the WHYs and HOWs of Health, Wellness, and Fat Loss!
? Videos!
? Meal Plans

LiteApp Studio - Annual[LAUNCHING ON OCT MON 15TH - FRI 19TH] NEW AI Software AUTOMATICALLY Creates Amazing Mobile Apps from ANY Website URL in Minutes, Works on All Browsers AND Can Be Instantly Downloaded and Shared Through Social Media, Text, Email and Q Code, Without Need for

WP GDPR Fix Pro Single SiteThe GDPR Pro version provides you with enhanced protection. This version comes with a a GDPR ready privacy policy made by a consulting expert. All you have to do is just grab it and put it on your blog. Also get A GDPR compliant default Terms and Conditions

TigerPress Previous Volumes Second Chance 7Premium one of a kind wordpress themes that do all the onpage seo for you including image seo, with TigerPress themes you can also generate an unlimited amount of geo targeted landing pages in any language.

==========

Recommended Products

TigerPress Volume 2Premium one of a kind wordpress themes that do all the onpage seo for you including image seo, with TigerPress themes you can also generate an unlimited amount of geo targeted landing pages in any language.